Which insurance covers you depends entirely on what your app was doing at the moment of impact. Nobody explains this at the scene, the answer is not obvious, and the record that proves it lives inside an app you may lose access to. Here is how it actually works in California, what changed on January 1, 2026, and what to screenshot today.
Do this before you finish reading. Open your driver app and screenshot the trip in question: the trip ID, the timestamps, the pickup and dropoff, and your status at the time. Screenshot your earnings screen for that day too. That record shows which part of your shift the crash happened in, and it is kept on the company's server, not on your phone.
Everything turns on your app status. Two crashes on the same corner, ten minutes apart, can be governed by completely different policies.
The amounts below are what California Public Utilities Code § 5433 requires of transportation network companies such as Uber and Lyft (PUC § 5433, as amended by SB 371, effective January 1, 2026; read November 1, 2026). What they mean for your crash is a question for your insurer or a lawyer.
Your own personal auto policy applies, exactly as it would for anyone else. Nothing about driving for a platform changes this.
From the moment you log on until you accept a ride, and again after a ride ends while you stay logged on, the law requires primary coverage of at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident for death and injury and $30,000 for property damage, plus excess coverage of at least $200,000 per incident.
Your personal auto policy may exclude driving for pay. Ask your agent whether it covers you while the app is on, and whether a rideshare endorsement is available.
From the moment you accept a ride until it ends in the app, the law requires primary coverage of $1,000,000 for death, injury and property damage.
The $1,000,000 requirement continues. From the moment the passenger enters the vehicle until the passenger exits, the company must also provide uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage of $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident. If you were the passenger rather than the driver, the coverage question works differently.
What changed on January 1, 2026. Senate Bill 371 amended § 5433. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, which responds when the at-fault driver has no insurance, too little insurance, or flees the scene, is now set at $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident, from the moment a passenger enters the vehicle until the passenger exits (Source: California Public Utilities Code § 5433(b)(2), as amended by SB 371, effective January 1, 2026). The $1,000,000 requirement from accepting a ride to the end of the ride is in the same section.
If you were a passenger in an Uber or Lyft when it happened, the crash was during a trip, from pickup to drop-off. Screenshot your ride receipt too: it shows when and where.
Section 5433 covers the companies that carry passengers. If you crashed while delivering food or groceries, ask the platform and your insurer what coverage applied at that moment, and read the current terms in your app's help center rather than assuming it works like Uber's.
What does not change: take the screenshots, because your app status at the moment of the crash is what matters, and check whether your personal policy excludes commercial use.
This is the difference between your situation and a commuter's. A stiff neck is an inconvenience for someone with a desk job. For you it is your income, because checking a blind spot, turning to talk to a passenger, and sitting for hours are the job.
Three things we do that matter specifically for drivers:
What we do not do: tell you what your claim is worth. We are your treating doctor, not an expert witness, and we do not put a number on anyone's case.
This page is general information about how insurance is structured in California. It is not legal advice, and how any of it applies to your specific situation is a question for a lawyer. We do not recommend a particular firm and accept no fee or consideration from any of them. If you want counsel, the Alameda County Bar Association runs a State Bar–certified referral service.
Same-day slots for new accident patients, downtown Oakland at 8th and Broadway. Call to schedule. You see one of our two doctors yourself: Dr. Ben Glass in English or Spanish, Dr. Irina Velichko in English or Russian. We verify your coverage first and tell you in writing what you will owe.
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(510) 606-0007 · oaklandaccidentcare@gmail.com
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